Miralax lawsuit -- thoughts on this?

A lot of children with autism take Miralax every day for their whole lives as constipation and gut/bowel issues are common in the population.   It's also a population that suffer of lot of neuropsych problems, easily blamed on Miralax.   I think this is where this lawsuit stems.

It's safe for adults. Well, when taken appropriately.  Macrogol is the hospital generic for it, and it is one of the most widely studied substances after a fashion.  If you are curious, you can find plenty of studies for efficacy, and when reading the details they have high validity and reliability.

I'm not sold that it's unsafe for children.  It is true that children react differently to adult drugs - asprin and psych meds being two offenders.  I've read many studies where children have safely used it, and it is one of the bowel preps used in surgery.  Regarding neurological issues, there are oodles of studies of which this is one where it's used for nerve damage treatments, which is odd since neurological dysfunction is the claim, no?

Only one study on the website you linked lists aversive effects for children, and all the ages in the study are actually infants, who got cardiac and renal toxicity.  So, don't give it to infants, or to people with cardiac or renal issues, is more prudent advice.

There is no mention of neurological effects in any of the studies on the lawyer's website, despite the claims it affects neurological symptoms.

I have a graduate certificate in child and adolescent counseling.  Children have behavioral symptoms for many reasons.  I've had children who were cranky and disruptive be that way because they had a high IQ and were bored.  I've had violent kids who were being abused.  I've had oppositional defiant ADHD kids who, as it turns out, had sleep apnea (their dentist suspected it) and getting apnea treatment their symptoms resolved 100%.  They were skinny to boot - skinny people and kids can get sleep apnea too. :)  

Neurodevelopmental stuff in kids is hard to diagnose, which is why the battery is exhaustive in terms of time, and expensive.  You basically need several hours of tests, and it ranges from 1000-2000 in cost depending on the tests.  Sadly, if resolving behavioral issues was as easy as quitting Miralax, a lot less kids would be suffering or on psychiatric drugs, which should always be the last resort of treatment.  

Sadly, also for parents, 99% of the time the cause for neurodegenerative disorders will go unknown.  I will say that certain behavioral issues, especially ones caused by fetal alcohol syndrome, are way more common than most want to admit.  I have seen many more children, adolescents, and adults with neurodevelopmental disorders from alcohol during pregnancy than from Miralax.

Sorry for the long post!

Now, that's a helpful post.  Thank you so much.  

Agreed! I love it when posts get interesting and informative on here! 

Donna, thank you also for the excellent article on the OH's home page.  I read it a couple of days ago, but didn't remember your OH handle at the time.  

For those who haven't seen Donna's piece yet, you can find it here:  

http://www.obesityhelp.com/articles/low-carb-diets-appetite- and-weight-loss-the-basics 

My grandbaby was prescibed Miralax for constipation and at the time she was only 12 months old. I know the dose was minimal but it's still scary to know that it can hurt them. SMH!! My son and step son from an early age probally around 4-5 also took this on a daily basis for years. They both got it prescibed from Valley Childrens Hospital here in CA which specifically deals with kids and not from a general GP. I wonder how long it takes to have the side effects they describe. So far non of mine have had any issues with it. I wonder if it a reaction to being combined with something else they are ingesting?

Thanks for the info

Dr. Bates suggests using some alternatives like Glycolax, milk of magnesia, Exlax, Senokot, Correctol, or Dulcolax. But also warns that "Overuse of laxatives can lead to a vicious cycle of constipation followed by diarrhea and to metabolic changes that can be dangerous." And this story was written in 2010.

Reference: Tips on How to Deal with Constipation